New for Traders: ICE receives European approval for NYSE acquisition

IntercontinentalExchange received notification from the European Commission that ICE's proposed acquisition of NYSE Euronext has been approved unconditionally. The completion of the transaction is subject to final approval from the Euronext College of Regulators, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and other national financial regulators.

TeraExchange is now connected to CME Clearing and is now ready for the trading of cleared interest rate and credit swaps. TeraExchange CEO Christian Martin, stated that “by providing significant portfolio margining services, we can help more end users take advantage of central clearing, while still passing on the benefits of natural risk offsets and ensuring sound risk management.”

The International Securities Exchange announced that it is the first options exchange to enter into a licensing agreement with NationsShares to list options on the Nations VolDex® index (ticker: VOLI). The Nations VolDex measures broad market implied volatility by way of at-the-money SPY options.

Object Trading announced that its clients have begun live trading on NASDAQ OMX NLX, the newly launched London derivatives market.

Horizons ETFs Management LLC announced that it has launched the Horizons S&P 500(R) Covered Call ETF ("HSPX"), an exchange traded fund (ETF) that uses an innovative covered call strategy designed to potentially generate additional income from the option-eligible stocks in the S&P 500(R), the most widely followed U.S. large-cap stock index.

Regulations

The Futures and Options Association and the Futures Industry Association today announced an agreement in principle to combine their two organizations under one global structure and brand called FIA Global.

LSE aims to expand its commodity futures range by adding milling-wheat futures, among others. LSE spokesman Tom Gilbert stated that “I wouldn’t go so far as plans, it’s a consideration at this moment”, according to Bloomberg.

ICE Futures US certified Brazilian-grown coffee for the first time. This was the first time that Brazil delivered beans to New York and took place as the Arabica futures market fell to a four-year low.

CQG, Inc. announced the 14.4 Beta release of CQG Integrated Client. This latest iteration of the company’s flagship product introduces new features and enhancements, including considerable improvements to Signal Evaluator and Portfolio Monitors and also features a new chart type.

Trading Technologies International, Inc. announced it has become the first independent software vendor (ISV) to pass conformance with CME Europe, a new London-based futures exchange and wholly owned subsidiary of CME Group that is scheduled to launch September 9, 2013, pending regulatory approval. TT will provide “day one” access to CME Europe, which will offer trading of FX futures and other products through the CME Globex® electronic trading platform.

RTS Realtime Systems Group announced a number of actions the firm has taken to further build on its growth in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The steps include the launch this week of a Chinese-language website and recent establishment of a Shanghai office and expansion of its staff there.

TMX Atrium announced that it has upgraded its connectivity to Knight Hotspot FX, in response to client demand.

About the Author

Michael McFarlin joined Futures in 2010 after graduating summa cum laude from Trinity International University, where he majored in English/Communication. With the launch of the new web platform, Michael serves as web editor for the site and will continue to work on the magazine, where he focuses on the Markets and Trading 101 features. He also served as a member of the Wisconsin National Guard from 2007 to 2010. mmcfarlin@futuresmag.com